Many A's fans feel that the current team owner Lew Wolff has no love for the city of Oakland or respect for its fans.

Many A's fans feel that the current team owner Lew Wolff has no...

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After years of trying to move south to San Jose, Lew Wolff looks ready to sign a 10 year lease to remain at the Oakland Coliseum.

After years of trying to move south to San Jose, Lew Wolff looks...

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Vanessa Fisher, right, and Breanna Britton, left, do "The Bernie" during a break in the action of the A's game against the Rangers at O.co Coliseum in Oakland in 2012.

Vanessa Fisher, right, and Breanna Britton, left, do "The Bernie"...

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Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin right is greeted in the dugout by Pat Neshek the new A's reliever prior to their MLB baseball game with the Baltimore Orioles Friday September 14, 2012 in Oakland.

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

Oakland Athletics manager Bob Melvin right is greeted in the dugout...

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Artist's rendering of a proposed ballpark for the Oakland A's on the waterfront north of Jack London Square.

Photo: MANICA Architecture

Artist's rendering of a proposed ballpark for the Oakland A's on...

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Artist's rendering of a proposed ballpark for the Oakland A's on the waterfront north of Jack London Square.

Photo: MANICA Architecture

Artist's rendering of a proposed ballpark for the Oakland A's on...

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San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed speaks to the news media after city officials held a press conference to discuss the lawsuit at City Hall in San Jose, Calif. on Tuesday June 18, 2013. The city of San Jose filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball to get the Oakland A's a new ballpark in the South Bay, the lawsuit will challenge the Giants claim to rights over the region as well as MLB's long-standing monopoly over everything baseball.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed speaks to the news media after city...

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A rendering of the proposed San Jose A's ballpark, situated south of Diridon Station in downtown San Jose.

After years of futile attempts to relocate to the South Bay, the Oakland A's appear resigned to staying put at the Coliseum and are in negotiations for a 10-year lease extension.

"We hope to have (a deal) as soon as possible," A's co-owner and managing partner Lew Wolfftold us Tuesday. "It's really up to Oakland now."

The new lease could keep the A's at the Coliseum until at least 2024. It calls for the team to make nominal rent payments in return for the A's paying for $10 million to $12 million in stadium improvements.

Most notably, the improvements include a new electronic scoreboard and a ribbon scoreboard between the first and second decks.

For the past five years, the A's have been pushing Major League Baseball for permission to move to San Jose, over the objection of the Giants, who consider the South Bay their territory. MLB has reacted by studying the issue to death.

In the meantime, the A's have agreed to a series of short extensions at the Coliseum.

On Tuesday, Wolff told us that "the best thing would be 10 years - we really don't want to keep revisiting this."

Although Mayor Jean Quanis not directly involved in the talks, locking in the A's for 10 years would be a victory for her. She has been dangling a potential ballpark site at the port north of Jack London Square - a spot Wolff and A's co-owner John Fisher aren't keen on.

Separately, the mayor has pushed a big redevelopment of the Coliseum complex that would include separate new stadiums for football and baseball. She has gone so far as to predict that the Raiders would sign a deal for a new stadium by late this summer.

How a new A's lease would affect those plans is unclear. The mayor declined to comment Tuesday, and when asked recently about the Raiders deal, her spokesman Sean Mahersteered clear of any specifics - including how much taxpayer money, if any, would be pledged toward a new football stadium.

Coliseum Authority member Chris Dobbinssaid the board is expected to take up the issue of the A's lease - and its effect on the Raiders - at a meeting Friday.

"We want to lock the Raiders in before we make a long-term deal with the A's," Dobbins said.

Wolff, however, said he doesn't see the Raiders posing much of a problem.

"There's a clause (in the proposed lease) that if the Raiders build a new facility, with some notice we will evacuate," Wolff said. Just where the team would play, however, isn't clear.

As for the A's dream of moving to San Jose?

"We are not allowed to comment on any of that, so I am not going to," Wolff said.

For now, Wolff would say only, "I am taking steps incrementally ... and having an extension in Oakland is what our next step is."

For the defense: Lewis Clinton Jr., the AC Transit chief financial officer who was just charged with embezzling more than $500,000 from the Allen Temple Baptist Church, has been put on indefinite leave from the transit agency - and will continue collecting his $225,000 annual salary.

"None of the charges concern his work at AC Transit, and while he has been charged, there is also a presumption of innocence," said AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson.

On the other hand, Johnson said, "there also is a matter of appearance in terms of his handling the system's finances."

Johnson said there's been no talk of reassigning the 57-year-old Clinton to another job.

"This will give him the time and space to deal with the current situation," Johnson said.

Just how long Clinton's paid leave will last is an open question that will be answered by AC General ManagerDavid Armijo.

"There is plenty of time if, in fact, the leave needs to be rethought," said AC board President Greg Harper.

Clinton is facing four felony fraud and grand-theft counts stemming from his position as head of two nonprofit boards and a foundation run by the East Oakland church.

Prosecutors say Clinton siphoned more than $500,000 from the church and spent it on everything from his own business to house payments, golfing and a luxury car.